Dale’s Sideline Report

The 83rd annual Masters Golf Tournament from Augusta, Georgia, was a historic one. The Super Bowl of the golf world showcased their best. Forty-three-year-old Tiger Woods, in one of the most remarkable comebacks in golf history, won his fifth Green Jacket and first since 2005. Whether you love or hate Tiger, you must admit he does bring excitement to the pro golf game when he is playing at the top of his game. This year’s Masters would have been great without Tiger, but in the end it was a classic as he shot 13-under for the four rounds with a final day 70 to win by one stroke. With five wins, Tiger now is second only to Jack Nicklaus who has six Masters titles. Nicklaus also leads  with 18 major titles while Tiger has 15 major titles. This was Tiger’s first major title since the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008. 

Mississippi has its own golf tournament this weekend in West Point. Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss will join 11 other college teams in the annual Old Waverly Collegiate Golf Tournament. 

Southern Mississippi is looking for a head basketball coach after the sudden resignation of Doc Sadler. Sadler took over the down ridden program five years ago and improved the Golden Eagles’ record each year. The Eagles were 20-13 this season and finished second in C-USA play. Sadler is taking an assistant coaching job at the University of Nebraska. The top name mentioned by USM supporters is Tim Floyd, the former coach of the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Hornets who also has four college stops, His dad Lee Floyd coached at Mississippi Southern for 14 years. Floyd would be a long shot in that he is living in Nashville and may not be talked into the grind of college basketball. Jay Ladner is another top name being mentioned. Ladner has a big following on the coast as well as in the Pine Belt. He is presently the coach at SE Louisiana and led Jones County Junior College to a national title five years ago.

In college baseball action, Mississippi State is the first Division 1 baseball team of 2019 to win 30 games. MSU swept Alabama to improve to 31-6 and also in the process took over first place in the Western Division at 10-5. Ole Miss won on Friday but was swept on Sunday by last place Kentucky as the Rebels fell to 9-6 in SEC play and dropped to 25-12 overall. State travels to Arkansas while Ole Miss heads to Auburn this Thursday. USM lost twice to Florida International in C-USA play and dropped to second place, a game behind Florida Atlantic, in league play. USM (21-12, 11-4) hosts Charlotte beginning Thursday. 

MSU baseball star Jake Mangum is only nine hits away from becoming the all-time SEC career hits leader. Mangum has 344 hits – trailing only LSU’s Eddie Furniss’s 352 hits. Mangum also has hit in 17 straight games and leads the SEC with a .401 batting average. You might want to get an Ole Miss vs. MSU ticket for the Tuesday, April 23^rdGovernor’s Trophy game at Trustmark Park to see history. 

Former East Central Community College baseball star Tim Anderson is leading the majors in hitting entering this week. Anderson is batting .429 for the Chicago White Sox. He hit his third home run, a grand slam against the Yankees, on Sunday. 

Contact Dale at ddmckee18@yahoo.com